Tia's knuckles turn white as she grips her tower riot shield with both hands. Some fifty rats are visible in a roiling wave; They're rushing down the hall in a torrent of teeth and claws. Tia activates her Shield Wall skill and grits her teeth as ten or so rats slam into the translucent barrier tied to her skill.

Heat flares up behind Tia as Boris starts activating his Fireball skill, and the party panics as they realize the explosion will turn tear them apart in such a cramped space. Thankfully Lance is quick to grab Boris' wrist and stop him.

"Don't use a fucking explosion in this crowded corridor!" Lance snaps at Boris.

Boris looks irritated but stops his skill quickly. Dominic activates his Navigator's Advantage and the team is buffed by Dominic's knowledge on the dungeon's layout; Tia spits up a bit of blood, and her face pales as twenty or so rats throw themselves relentlessly at her barrier.

"I-I can't hold this for much longer!" Tia shouts shakily.

Lance clenches his jaw for a moment before activating a skill which coats his makeshift weapon in ethereal red light. Nobody but Lance knows his skill names, but they all have a rough idea of what they do. This one should boost damage and provide a buff upon killing the enemy.

Tia's vision is blurring as the horde of rodents blots out the torchlight; She transfers her barrier into another skill, Shield Bash. Dire Rats go flying into the mosh as Tia's sturdy barrier transforms into violent shards of translucent power.

"Push them back!" Lance shouts.

Tia's body is eviscerated in seconds as the swarm leaps upon her. Dominic stands to the side of Lance while Boris stands at the other side; Lance swings his pipe as efficiently as he can, yet for every rat he smashes another two take its place.

Dominic is frantically swinging a police baton to fend off the massive rodents, yet they're gaining ground on the trio of dungeon hunters. Boris grits his teeth as rats continue to nip at his feet, and flames begin to manifest in front of his staff.

"Boris! I fucking told you not to use that spell!" Lance screams, enraged.

The fireball forms fully, and with a whistling noise the din of battle quiets for just a moment before explosive flames engulf most of the rats as well as splash back at the dungeon hunters. Lance's face is horribly burned while Dominic avoids the brunt of it along with Boris.

Lance is cursing up a storm as he beats out the flames on his face; The other two take a look at their leader before dashing over the charred rodent bodies toward the dungeon's portal. They have to beat down several surviving rats along the way, but it feels like they've dealt with the brunt of the swarm.

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"I'm never going dungeon hunting again. Fuck this!" Boris grumbles loudly.

~

Katia's metaphorical eyes flit from the burnt Gladiator to his two companions before she lets out a mental chuckle. Around thirty Dire Rats are trapped beneath the charred corpses of their brethren, yet just as the duo turn the corner into the barrel room these trapped rodents chew their way out.

"Go! Finish off those two!"

The freed rats squeak and scamper in a desperate stampede as they trample their burnt kin underfoot. The sound of the Dire Rats alarms both dungeon hunters, and without much choice they break into a desperate sprint.

Dog sized rats bite into and maul the Warlock as he's just slightly slower, while the Navigator only makes it a few meters before he too is swept up by the reduced swarm. Neither of them can resist the Dire Rats once knocked down, and their deaths are agonizingly horrible.

"That's what you get for trying to hunt me, bastards!"

Quest Complete: Monstrous

Reward 'Rat Hide' unlocked!

The system pop-up surprises Katia as she had forgotten this quest, and she quickly makes a mental note to add it to her dungeon's treasure in the future.

Katia's attention turns back to the group's leader, and her excitement is snuffed out by the stubbornness of the Gladiator. He's got a strange green aura around his body, and his wounds are healing rapidly as he smashes Dire Rats with his buffed pipe.

Her shock mounts as the swarm can't seem to bring him down; He runs past and through then, his makeshift cudgel murdering two to three rats with each swing, yet their bites are quickly healed by the mysterious regeneration skill.

"He's going to escape..."

The man manages to fight his way to the portal, and practically leaps through the purple glowing rectangle. Katia feels dread in her crystalline heart as that dungeon hunter will surely seek to avenge his companions someday.

Quest Complete: Dungeon Hunters

Skill 'Dungeon Scrying' learned!

The newly acquired skill is unlike Katia's current abilities. With Dungeon Scrying she finds her portal functions as an extension of her mind, and she can sense everything within the portal's vicinity. The Gladiator and his only other companion are just outside the portal.

~

Harriet's eyes widen as she glances over at the portal to see Lance's bloodied body tumble through in a heap; Of all the dungeon hunts they've gone on, none have left Lance this badly injured. It unsettled Harriet greatly.

"A-Are you okay? Where are the others?" Harriet asks quickly.

"Dead! They're fucking dead! Damn it!" Lance shouts angrily.

The man takes a few heavy breaths while calming himself down slowly. Lance isn't used to losing his temper so quickly, yet this debacle has destabilized his emotions to make it so. This insidious dungeon is to blame.

"We're going back to subway town." Lance says firmly.

Harriet's face is pale as the death of her friends sinks in. Dungeons are obviously dangerous, but none of the dungeon's they fought in the past were lethal enough to actually kill anyone. Harriet's walk is slow and clumsy as she follows Lance out of the destroyed building and back onto the street.

~

Quest Added: Ten Rooms

Objective: Have ten rooms in your dungeon's first floor, excluding corridors.

Reward: Mechanical Knowledge learned.

"Mechanical Knowledge? Does that give me some insight on trap making and stuff like that?"

Katia grows eager as she imagines what she can do with traps and mechanisms; She resolves to remake her first floor with a total of ten rooms immediately!